愛情。金錢。白馬王子

我家弟弟說，現在的香港女孩子都希望找到她們的白馬王子。

咦？不對嘛，女生尋找生命中的白馬王子是恆常以久的事，怎麼能說是「現在的女孩子」獨有的夢想？他平淡的說道：「重點就落在何謂白馬王子。現在的女孩子，還相信童話嗎？」我眼珠兒滾了一滾，一瞬間幻想著... 策騎白馬的英俊王子在萬綠叢中乍現，漫無目的地在樹影與陽光間徘徊之際，眼光忽爾落在女孩平凡但美麗的臉上，怦然心動，旋即愛上女孩，許下諾言甘願為她赴湯蹈火，只求能與她長相廝守 (下省其後的上刀山入火海剿妖魔服毒藥數百情節)...

弟弟繼續解說道：「可謂白.馬.王.子？白手興家、馬上發達、王親國戚、子承父業。正中其中一項即可。一句到尾，錢。」不是那麼悲哀吧？「當然不能一竹篙打一船人，只不過金錢掛帥的港女，比比皆是。」

香港，物慾的確是橫流了點。可能是熱烈追捧時尚享受但自己能力不夠，或是不信奉男女平等而視男生為付款機器；不論這些典型港女是目標為本還是視之為理所當然，要追求她們，好像都需要有點零錢。「我沒所謂，賺得來花得去! 但我對女生的品格也有要求的，別以為袋裡頭有花碌碌鈔票的就是羊牯，以為自己有點色相就去行凶。沒有色相的，更不用提了~ 哈哈哈哈~」

「現在的女孩子呀，唉... (搖頭) 但話說回頭，我現在帶她去吃好的喝好的，她以後還能夠接受一個約會時帶她去許留山的人嗎？嘿嘿嘿~」弟弟，你也真夠拔扈囂張! 但算了吧，港女不爭氣，為姊亦無話可說。我只能說，可能你太久沒有遇上跟你「鹹魚白菜也好好味」的女人。

祝你早日遇上。Amen。

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寫完上文，讓我記起一個叫我感動至深的愛情故事。
誰說愛情雖好，仍需金錢扶持???

An incredible  love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world.
It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other  in peace for over half a century. 

The 70-year-old Chinese man who hand-carved over 6,000 stairs up a mountain for his 80-year-old wife has passed away in the cave which has been the couple's home for the last 50 years.

Over 50  years ago, Liu Guojiang a 19 year-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed  mother named Xu Chaoqin. In a twist worthy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, friends and relatives criticized the relationship because of the age difference and the fact that Xu already had children.

At that time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man  to love an older woman. To avoid the market gossip and the scorn of their communities, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing Municipality.

In the beginning, life was harsh as they had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to light up their lives. 

Xu felt that she had tied Liu down and repeatedly asked him, 'Are you regretful?' Liu always replied, 'As long as we are industrious, life will improve.' In the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began and continued for over 50 years, to hand-carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.

Half a century later in 2001, a group of adventurers were exploring the forest and were surprised to find the elderly couple and the over 6,000 hand-carved steps.  Liu MingSheng,  one of their seven children said, 'My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day. He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother's convenience, although she doesn't go down the mountain that much.'

The couple had  lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years, returned  from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms. So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able  to release the grip he had on his wife's hand even after he had passed away. 

'You promised me you'll take care of me, you'll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?'

Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband's black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks.
 
In 2006, their story became one of the top 10 love stories from China , collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the love ladder and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.